Petroleum exploration and production emphasizes optimizing production of hydrocarbons from subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. This can include drilling wells into reservoirs to extract hydrocarbons from the reservoirs, such as oil and gas trapped in the reservoirs. In some instances, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques are employed to aid in the extraction of hydrocarbons from reservoirs. Common EOR techniques include water injection, thermal injection, gas injection, and chemical injection. During an injection operation, a substance is typically injected into a reservoir by way of one or more injection wells, and the pressure and flow of the injected substance urges the hydrocarbons to flow toward productions wells.
Techniques for optimizing reservoir production often rely on accurate assessments of reservoirs, including monitoring the locations of hydrocarbons and other substances as they move through a reservoir. For example, it can be desirable to track the progression of water as it migrates through a reservoir to determine if and when water will reach a production well. In the case of horizontal wells, the term “water cresting” or “water coning” refers to an anomalous rise of a water level above a normal oil-water contact level. When viewed from its profile, the “crest” or “cone” of water may appear as an upward-arcing pocket of water that extends from a region of the reservoir saturated with water, into a hydrocarbon rich area of the reservoir. A horizontally oriented wellbore of a horizontal well may extend into the hydrocarbon rich area to provide a path for the extraction of the hydrocarbons from the reservoir. Unfortunately, if the water crest reaches the wellbore, the water can be drawn into the wellbore, reducing the hydrocarbon production from the well.